


get on your knees (say pretty please)

by chailattemusings



Series: persephone [2]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Fae manipulation, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-15
Updated: 2015-01-15
Packaged: 2018-03-07 14:54:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3176487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chailattemusings/pseuds/chailattemusings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will has a ring on his finger that won't come off, Xephos is after Kirin's throat, and Honeydew is caught in the crossfire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	get on your knees (say pretty please)

Christmas was, in Will's mind, one of the best times of the year.

Not because of the holiday that promoted spending time with family, which was still nice, or the commercialism, which left a bad taste in Will's mouth, but because for once, the city was not so chaotic. On Christmas Eve, only the most necessary of jobs were being done; the every day tasks from people who couldn't afford to take the holiday off, like garbage collecting and retail work, and the jobs necessary by definition, the emergency and nurse care at the hospitals and the hotel managers taking in all the new holiday guests and ensuring their stay was a brilliant one that made them want to return.

A majority of the businesses closed, people stayed inside and avoided the cold weather, and the city breathed in calm stretches, moving enough to keep itself alive but not enough to clash around in Will's skull.

Christmas has been similar, and Will was able to sit in the living room opening presents with Xephos, Honeydew, and Lalna, without the usual strain of people's footsteps echoing through the window, the rhythmic hum of trains through the ground during morning commute. Honeydew had cooked them all a massive sausage and egg breakfast, and they shared the day with only minor worries about what the Garbage Court would do on a day when people were purposely ignoring the outside world. Xephos had put a seal twice as strong on their door and they'd moved on with their day.

The day after Christmas, it still wasn't the same level of the city's usual movement, but it returned to a more normal level. Christmas was in the middle of the week, and everyone who couldn't stay on vacation until the weekend got up to go to work. Will felt it when he opened his eyes, the way the city twisted uncomfortably away from the air of relaxation tinged with the stress of such a massively celebrated holiday, and back into its usual routine. People hurried to the coffee shops for their espressos and vanilla lattes, running down the streets to catch buses or descend to the subway before their trains left.

Will stretched, his bones popping, and listened, for a minute, to the slow inhale and quick exhale of the city extending its wings after a break.

When he sat up, his attention drifted down to his hand, flexing sore fingers and feeling the pull of the brand new ring, on his right ring finger.

Kirin had given it to him, placed in a small blue box and tied with a perfectly centered bow. Will had wondered if the bow were added in whatever shop Kirin went to, until Kirin mentioned how difficult it had been to wait until the day before Christmas Eve to tie it closed and give it to him. Will had taken the gift, careful not to thank Kirin for it, and exchanged his own. He'd hoped Kirin wouldn't give him anything, knowing how dangerous gifts were with fae, but bought something nice just in case.

The store-bought chocolate wouldn't live up to a lot, but the thought counted, especially with a faerie.

Will had patiently waited until Christmas to open it, hiding the box under his coat and letting it sit on his dresser, in his room in the attic. When they'd finished with the presents and Xephos had gone to bed, Honeydew scampering up quickly after, Will had gone to the attic. He’d plucked the box from its place and turned it round and round, but not upside down lest something inside of it break. It hadn't made noise, but if Will broke a gift from Kirin, he wouldn't have heard the end of it.

Inside, when Will untied the ribbon, had been a simple ring. Speckled brown with metal edging, that slipped easily over the ring finger of his right hand and didn't fall off, though it was smooth and turned easily over his skin as Will played with it. He'd made a note to ask Honeydew what the speckled brown stone was, but at the time, his lids had weighed heavy, the hours of the day catching up to him, and he'd laid in bed before he could think more about it.

He stared at it now, twisting it over his finger. It was beautiful, more so in the light. A simple design, the metal edging holding the stone in place, but pleasing. Simple could do wonders, especially with things like jewelry. Will wasn't fond of wearing accessories, but he had to admit, Kirin had good taste. He could wear the ring around the shop for him, and maybe occasionally when he went out. If he wore it all the time, he might lose it, and Will wouldn't know how to explain that to Kirin.

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood, stretching one last time with a grunt. His clothes from yesterday were rumpled. Will fell asleep before he could change into a t-shirt and boxers. He shucked the button down he'd worn to look nice for Christmas, slipping into a long sleeved shirt and pajama bottoms. He glanced at his hand again, at the way the ring caught the light, and smiled. He definitely liked it.

Yawning, Will lowered the attic stairs and walked down, sighing as he entered the warmer portion of the house. The heat didn't reach all the way up to the attic, and the temperature ratcheted up the moment he stepped onto the upstairs carpet, the fibers sticking between his toes. Will rubbed his arms, feeling the goosebumps, and walked down the hall.

Honeydew was at the top of the stairs, just going down. “Good morning,” Will said, and Honeydew paused with his foot over the step, to look at him.

“Morning,” he said, eyes still blinking the sleep away. “You sleep all right?”

“Yeah.” Will glanced down and caught sight of the ring again. “Hey,” he asked, holding his hand up. “I have a question, can you wait a second?”

Honeydew had started down the stairs again, thinking their exchange done, and stopped on the second step down, turning. His lips pursed in mild irritation, and Will shrugged sheepishly. “I wondered if you could tell me what kind of stone is in this ring,” he said, holding his hand out for Honeydew to look at. “I'm not sure what it is.” Honeydew, a dwarf and an expert on stones and gems, would probably take one glance and know what the ring was made with.

Honeydew leaned back as Will thrust his hand at him, and reached up, cradling Will's palm and letting Will's fingers rest just at the end of his wrist. He squinted, still sleepy, and put his thumb out to press it on the ring, feeling over the back of it.

He hissed, dropping Will's hand and trying to back up, feet catching on the steps. Will grabbed his arm in a panic, holding him still, and Honeydew steadied himself with a tight hand on the railing. “Where the _fuck_ ,” he spat, eyes suddenly alert as they narrowed at Will, “did you get that ring?”

“It was, uh. A gift.” Will stood when Honeydew had gotten his balance, fingering the ring with his left thumb and forefinger. “For Christmas,” he added, licking his lips.

“Obviously,” Honeydew said, rolling his eyes. “Who in the bloody hell gave _that_ to you? Take it off this minute.”

Will swallowed, eyes wide and fingers trembling. “Sure.” He grabbed the ring, pulling. He expected it to slip off easily, as well as it had slipped on with the smooth metal backing and polished stone.

But it didn't. Will's fingers lost their grip and he fumbled, hand hovering uselessly above the ring as he processed what had happened. Frowning, he tried again, grabbing the ring harder. It stayed perfectly in place at the base of his ring finger, sealed just above the knuckle, and Will grit his teeth, yanking as hard as he dared against his own finger. “What the--”

“Fuck, that's what I was worried about. Shit.” Honeydew snatched his wrist and turned, starting down the stairs. Will yelped, barely catching his other hand around the railing to steady himself as Honeydew trudged down the stairs with heavy steps, the wooden steps creaking loud enough to wake the neighborhood.

“Honeydew?” Will asked, his throat tight. “What's wrong?”

“You're a bloody git, is what's wrong,” Honeydew said, turning sharply and pulling them into the kitchen. He stopped, dropping Will's hand, and glared at him, eyes flicking to the ring and back up. “Who gave that to you?”

Will cradled his hand against his chest. “Kirin.”

“Bloody--!” Honeydew smacked his face with his hand. “I should have known.”

“What?” Will looked down at the ring, the way the speckled stone reflected the pale kitchen lights above his head, and his brows pinched together. “What kind of stone is it? Is it dangerous?” He hadn't thought of the material of the ring, whether Kirin could have placed an enchantment on it. That seemed low, but the longer Honeydew glared at him, the more Will squirmed, wondering if perhaps he should have questioned the gift more before putting it on.

“It isn't stone,” Honeydew said after a long moment. “It's antler.”

Will's brow furrowed. “Antler?” He looked at the ring again. He'd never seen antler, not in jewelry. He had no idea what it was supposed to look like, or whether he should have recognized it.

“Antler!” Honeydew said, near fuming, his hands going up indignantly. “Try to take it off again, let me see.”

Hesitantly, Will grabbed at the ring and tugged. It didn't budge. “I can't.”

“Right, well.” Honeydew looked around the kitchen, biting his lip. “We've got to try, haven't we?” He turned and went to the sink, pausing for only a second before he grabbed the bottle of dish soap sitting at the edge of the sink's polished steel basin. He waved a hand, fingers beckoning, and Will shuffled over. At further prodding from Honeydew’s empty hand, Will laid his own over it, and let out a little noise when Honeydew yanked his hand over the sink.

He poured a dollop of the dish soap onto Will’s finger, right over the ring. Will's first thought was that it would ruin the ring, but he kept quiet as Honeydew worked the soap around his fingers and tried to get it under the ring. Will didn't feel anything slipping underneath it, the seal airtight despite how sure he'd been that the ring would be loose and comfortable.

Honeydew set the soap down and hooked his fingers under the ring, bracketing Will's finger just above the knuckle, and pulled.

“Ow!” Will grit his teeth and tried to pull back in counterpoint, but Honeydew's hand was locked around his wrist and his other wouldn't release the ring, yanking it upward to pry it from Will's skin. His fingers slipped in the soap while the ring itself refused to move so much as an inch, and Honeydew grunted, adjusting his fingers for a better grip and trying again.

After a couple minutes of bearing the pain, Will growled and braced a foot against the tile floor, yanking his arm away. It broke from Honeydew's grip and Will smacked himself in the chest with the force of it, steadying himself before he glared. “That _hurt_ ,” he snapped, flexing his sore hand. The entire finger hurt, dull pain throbbing from knuckle to tip, and the ring shine’s was blocked by the stain of dish soap smeared over it. “It's obviously not working.”

“Something else then,” Honeydew muttered, brow furrowed as he stared at the ring. “I am _not_ letting you keep that thing.”

“Is this really necessary?!” Will asked, voice pitched high, as Honeydew opened the fridge and started rummaging through. “I mean, it's stuck, yeah, but I could ask Kirin--”

Honeydew slammed the fridge door, a plate of frozen butter in one hand, his nose wrinkled unpleasantly when he looked at Will again. “Kirin is the last person we want you seeing right now. Come here, we're not giving up on mundane options so easily.”

Will looked at the ring again. The soap had slid off, oozing to the floor, and the ring glinted once more, showing off the polished metal around its edges. He held his hand up for Honeydew again, and tried not to grimace as he smeared butter around the edges of the ring, mixing unpleasantly with the remnants of the soap and greasing the skin over his knuckle.

The butter didn't work either, although Will hadn't expected it to. The more Honeydew yanked and pulled, the clearer it became that the ring wasn't simply a ring, and if Will wanted to take it off, he would need something more magical than butter and soap.

Another few minutes of nearly breaking his own fingers, and Will backed away from Honeydew to wash his hands in the sink. He grabbed a paper towel to wipe off the ring, and lifted his hand, holding it over his head. Mundane wasn't working, but magic might.

Will knew very little about jewelry. His magic focused on electricity and the city itself, ringing with the sounds of the city's life and crying out for the lives of the people, how their lives rumbled through concrete and iron and vibrated over the pipes and walls, creating magic where there was none and stealing existing magic to morph it into a modern form. Will could connect to the city through something as simple as a broken phone or an abandoned building, though he hadn't tried often; he simply took the scope of his skills at Kirin's word.

A ring, however, was out of his known jurisdiction.

He let his hand down and glanced about. The first thing he could see that might help was the water pot, and grabbed it, filling it from the sink. Honeydew, drying his own hands beside Will, pursed his lips. “Now what are you doing?”

“Making connections,” Will replied simply, setting their electric kettle on its stand and plugging it in. “Is this . . . is this ring really that bad?”

“Is it-- did you have _no_ magic training? At all?” Honeydew's brow pinched and he put his hands on his hips.

“Of course I did!” Will tugged idly at the ring as he waited for the water to heat up. “I know about fae and their natures, but I thought-- I thought this would be fine. Kirin has never done anything like this before.” He looked down at the ring, how the antler shone in the dull kitchen lights. It was truly a beautiful piece of jewelry, something he would have loved to be able to wear.

Honeydew rolled his eyes and mumbled something like, “I _bet_ he hasn't,” but the water boiled in its kettle and Will hurried over to it.

The water and electricity of the kettle's stand were separated by layers of heavy metal and plastic, but that didn't mean Will couldn't connect them. He put his hand on the pot and felt out its heat, how the energy rolled across its surface to fade into the air in thick, heavy waves. He grabbed the nearest cup from the sink, a mug with fireflies printed on it, and poured a cup of hot water. Will gripped the handle tight, concentrating on the fading pulse of the water pot’s electricity and how it translated to the heat energy in the water.

With a tentative hand, Will put his hand over the mug, taking what he could from the kettle's leftovers, and dipped his ring finger in it.

“Will!” Honeydew shouted. Will ignored him, grasping the mug with one hand and hissing as the water covered his other.

The heat stung and he almost drew back, jerking, but he could feel the inherent magic in the water, the promise of being created into coffee or tea or drunk plain for the sake of a bad cold, how its heat could cure headaches and sore throats and how the temperature itself was feared for its harmful properties. Will closed his eyes, feeling out the heat and how it could push and pull at metal, willing it to slip inside his ring and stretch it away from his skin.

He held his finger in the water long enough to turn his finger bright red, and pulled it out, shaking water droplets from his skin. Will danced a little on the balls of his feet, watching the steam rise from his skin and how the skin swelled with blood. “Fuck,” he murmured, and wrapped his fingers over the edges of the ring again, heart pounding as he started to pull with the hope that the heat of the water and the latent electric magic he'd managed to grab had done its job.

The ring didn't budge.

“Damn it!” Will cursed, gritting his teeth.

“Give me that,” Honeydew said, a hint of strain and panic in his voice as he knocked Will's hand away and made to catch the ring himself, meaty fingers stretching Will's to the side as they bracketed his ring finger and yanked hard. Will grunted, knees buckling with the pain that shot up from his hand, over his arm, and locked his shoulder in place. Honeydew pulled harder, and Will almost collapsed with the jab and sting of the ring pulling his skin up with every tug.

“What the _hell_ is going on here?”

They froze, and looked to the kitchen doorway.

Xephos stood with his arms crossed over his chest, bathrobe wrapped tight over him, lips pursed and hair wild on his head. Honeydew lost his grip on Will, and Will fell flat on his ass, yelping as he hit the hard tile and his hands scrambled to catch him. His wrists burned as they scraped over the floor, and Will let himself rock back with the momentum as he brought them up, soothing over the abrasion.

When he looked up again, Xephos had moved to stand in front of him. “What's going on?” he repeated, eyes narrowed into slits so thin they could slice Will's skin if Xephos had half a mind to do so. His hands had balled into fists, feet spread wide and shoulders hunched.

Instinctively, Will grabbed for the ring, rubbing over the smooth metal, and Xephos' eyes flicked to it immediately. He tensed, moreso than he was-- an impressive feat-- and he let out one, short, punctured breath. “What's that?”

“A ring,” Honeydew said, from where he stood behind Xephos, looking between him and Will as though he were unsure who to protect. “A ring made of _antler_ ,” he said, with an emphasis that made Will's stomach turn.

Xephos' breath hitched. He looked at Honeydew with wide eyes, and then back to Will, lips parted as he stared at the ring, the way Will fiddled and cradled it. “A ring,” he repeated. “An antler ring.”

“Kirin gave it to him,” Honeydew followed with, and Will shot him the best look of betrayal he could muster, as fear crept over his heart and dug its meaty claws into his chest.

“ _What?_ ” Xephos whirled on Honeydew, eyes narrowed, and glared down at Will. “What have-- why didn't-- _when_?”

“H-He gave me a box, the day before Christmas Eve,” Will said, gripping the ring tighter. “I didn't think it would mean anything! It's Christmas!”

“You didn't _think_ on the biggest gift giving holiday, that Kirin would--” Xephos hissed through his teeth, hands flying to yank at strands on his hair. “That's it. You're done. Upstairs.” He released his hair with one hand and pointed firmly to the kitchen doorway.

Will scrambled to stand, but kept his place in front of Xephos. “I'm not a child."

“Upstairs,” Xephos said, pointing again with his teeth bared, “ _now._ ”

When Will opened his mouth again, Honeydew waved his hands from behind Xephos, and gestured frantically at the door. Will knew better than to test Xephos' limits, but the ring was nice, even if it clung to his skin like a hungry dog trying to swallow his finger, and the way Xephos glared, like everything was _his_ fault, had his hackles rising.

If Honeydew said to duck and cover, though? He knew Xephos was beyond furious.

Will grasped the ring again and marched out of the room, muttering under his breath and breathing both deep and shallow, long breaths that filled his lungs but didn't give him the level head he needed, passing through his chest like the wind and never stopping to fill him.

He passed Lalna on his way to the attic, pausing in the upstairs hall. “I wouldn't,” he said, tilting his head towards the stairs. “Something's come up.”

Lalna stopped, blinking a few times, still half asleep. He shook his head as Will spoke, and glanced at the stairs. “What, did Xeph not sleep well? He usually sleeps like a baby after Christmas ends, with all the stress going away for a while.”

Will didn't need to speak again, because a shrill yell came up the stairs, with distinct words like 'gift' and ‘sidhe lord' making their way up. They both froze at the high pitch of Xephos' voice, and Will could picture Honeydew scurrying around to make tea, to do anything to calm his darling husband whose anxiety was always just a bit too high.

With one last meaningful look at Lalna, Will rushed past, clambering up the attic stairs and drawing them back up, locking the attic as he folded the stairs and bolted the door in place. He stood and turned, grabbing the discarded ring box from where he'd left it on the bed.

“What did you do?” he whispered, clutching it in one hand, the hand with his ring resting at his thigh. “I thought you were just being nice.”

He'd thought it about Kirin before. He hadn't known he was fae, at first. Kirin had seemed like a normal person, like anyone else Will had met, albeit handsome and clever. It wasn't until Will spent a few weeks in the shop that he felt the coil of nature magic and where it _came_ from, how it didn't originate from the plants but rather Kirin himself, wrapping around him in thick, viney webs. Nature magic had been all around Will back at home, but he'd thought he left it behind for the most part, when he moved away. Forgetting about it and then finding it again, so strong under Kirin's guiding hand, had been a shock.

But he'd never been anything but kind to Will, showing him around the shop and teaching him how to raise the plants. Will had appreciated what Kirin did and tried to work with the nature magic rather than against it, blocking out the city when he stepped over Kirin's threshold.

And now, he had a ring that wouldn't come off his finger.

It reeked of the shop's magic, as he looked over it. He'd sensed something on it when he put it on, and knowing what to look for helped. Will thought he could see something, a green tendril around the edges of the cold metal and the antler's polished surface.

The vision didn't hold long enough to grab at it, to pull the root and yank it free, and physical methods had proved fruitless. Will pulled the ring a few more times, gaining nothing, and sighed, tossing the box onto the floor. “Useless,” he muttered, and fell back onto the bed, spreading his arms over the blankets and curling his fingers into fists. The ring pressed into his palm, cool and smooth.

Will hadn't meant to fall asleep, worry wriggling down his chest and into his belly. His bed was soft, though, always bringing him comfort on the nights he thought he couldn't sleep, and the attic was boring. Will didn't have any of his belongings up here except clothes, and boredom helped pull his eyes closed, slowing his breathing.

When Will woke up again, alert and tense, it was to the sound of a loud crash, shouting, and a sudden, _powerful_ wave of familiar magic. It rolled through the house and stuck behind his teeth, the taste weighing his tongue down.

Kirin.

Will could feel it, blinking a couple times before he sat up, hands tight in the sheets of his bed. His foot kicked the box where he'd thrown it on the floor, knocking it underneath the dresser, and Will hurried to unlatch the attic door and push the stairs down, skittering over the steps in his socked feet and trying not to slip and bash his head in.

Lalna was leaning over the banister, brow furrowed, hands tight on the wood. Will barely looked at him as he passed and hurried down the stairs, one hand skimming over the wall to keep his balance, the other curled in a tight fist. Kirin's magic swept over him and grabbed at his wrists, his ankles, wrapping tight. Will stopped at the bottom of the stairs to shake it off, before swinging around the corner of the doorway by the stairs, into the living room.

He nearly coughed at the concentration of magic, putting a hand to his mouth, eyes going wide as they landed on the center of the room.

A circle, drawn in thick white chalk, had been done over the hardwood floors, strengthened by the runes sketched around the outside edges. The furniture in the room had been shoved back to make room for the massive circle, with the exception of a brocade armchair that had been settled on one end of the circle, towards the window. In front of the chair, standing with crossed arms, tight lips, and narrowed eyes, was Kirin himself.

He turned when Will came in the room, and Will ducked his head, unwilling to meet his eyes, glancing around to find anything else to look at.

Honeydew was on the couch, moved from the center of the room to the wall at Will's left, with his face in his hands, fingers fisted tight in the frayed red hair at his temples. In front of him, Xephos, fingers stained with chalk and resting at his side, shoulders tensed and feet braced on the floor. His dark hair had fallen in his eyes, and his cheeks were flushed as he stared down at Kirin, moving when Kirin did to look at Will and meet his eyes.

“William,” Kirin said, his voice lacking the usual warm purr with which he called Will's name.

“Don't speak to him!” Xephos snapped, whirling on Kirin and stepping closer to the circle. “Talking to him is what got you in this mess, so you can just shut your mouth!”

“I didn't do _anything_ ,” Kirin snarled, baring his teeth. “I was minding my own business when you pulled me in this circle, and I won't be staying here for very long.”

Will opened his mouth, to stop Kirin or yell at Xephos, he wasn't sure, when Kirin raised a hand and reached out, touching the edges of the circle binding him. The air shivered and crackled, Kirin's magic rising and billowing out from the circle, pulling itself over Will like an aged blanket, fluttering around him.

Kirin grunted and pushed harder at the circle. The chalk glowed, getting brighter the harder Kirin shoved at its barrier, and even when Kirin used his other hand and tried to break the edges, it stayed, runes shimmering but never cracking. Kirin growled, and slammed a fist on the barrier. “Xephos,” he hissed. “Let me _out_.”

Xephos crossed his arms. “That would defeat the point.”

“Xephos!” Will said, finally finding his voice, trying to ignore the way Kirin glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. Xephos turned cold blue eyes to him, hands rigid where they gripped his own arms. Will swallowed, unable to resist touching the ring and spinning it over his skin, the metal easily gliding across his finger despite not wanting to slide upward and off.

They all froze when Lalna entered the room, four sets of eyes landing on him. Lalna stopped in the doorway and ran a hand through his curled hair, still messy with bedhead. “Uh,” he said, and blinked, waiting for some form of explanation.

“Tea,” Xephos said, teeth grit as he turned from the living room, to the kitchen doorway. “Nobody touch the circle!”

Will jolted, cheeks turning red with shame. He'd thought of it, after coming in to find Kirin trapped and Xephos looking ready to murder him. Glancing at the messy chalk edges of the circle again, Will bit his lip, reining in the urge to swipe the runes off on his socks and break the barrier.

Kirin watched Xephos leave, before turning his eyes back to Will. “I wasn't supposed to see you until Monday.”

Will shrugged, helpless.

“What the bloody hell is going on?” Lalna said, eyes wide and distressed. He looked at Honeydew on the couch, still gripping his hair. “Why do we have a sidhe lord in our living room?”

“Ask Xephos,” Honeydew said with a long, drawn out sigh. He slumped, hands falling over his knees, before he stood. He gave Will a long, hard look, and shook his head, turning to go to the kitchen.

Soon, the sounds of cupboards slamming and cups banging echoed to the living room, Xephos occasionally visible from the doorway as he scuttled about the kitchen, and Honeydew's soothing voice drifted to them, quiet murmurs as he tried to calm Xephos down.

Kirin turned and looked pointedly at Will, staring him down for a moment, his eyes flicking to the way Will's fingers fidgeted with his ring. Before Will could cave and ask Xephos about some _other_ method to deal with Kirin being in their house, Kirin faced the kitchen and said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “I didn't think you would mind a gift from me to Will, considering what you let Lalna do with that _dryad_.”

Behind Will, Lalna squeaked, as cupboards slammed and Xephos stalked back into the living room, Honeydew quick on his heels. Xephos spared a second to shoot a narrow eyed look at Lalna.

“It's not like it's me!” Lalna said, squeaking again. “The _other_ Lalna is the one running around with a dryad all the time!”

“That's _it_!” Xephos snarled, hands balled into fists, his sharp glare focused on Kirin. “Both of you, go to your damn rooms. Honeydew and I have a mess to deal with, and I don't want to hear a peep from either of you. Understand?” He looked at Will and Lalna, chest puffed up and nostrils flaring.

“That's not fair—” Lalna started.

“For god's sake,” Will hissed, backing up toward the living room door, pushing Lalna back in the process. “Get the hell out of here while you can, Lalna.”

A pause, before Lalna sighed and left, running quickly up the stairs. Will stayed by the door, eyes flicking between Xephos and Kirin. “You can't be doing this,” he said, twisting the ring as he met Xephos' heavy gaze. “It's excessive.”

“I told you to go to your room.” Xephos' tone had dropped, less of the anger seeping in as he closed his eyes and rubbed at his temple with a couple fingers. “No arguments.”

Will pursed his lips and mumbled about not being five anymore, but Xephos glared again, and he jumped back, swallowing heavily. With one last glance at Kirin, stewing in the middle of the circle and blatantly refusing to sit in the chair provided for him, Will left the room. He hesitated at the base of the stairs, looking up to see Lalna leaning over the railing.

“You've got yourself in some shit,” Lalna said, blinking at him.

Will shrugged his shoulders, letting out a slow breath through his mouth. “It was a gift,” he muttered weakly, taking the stairs as his right hand curled tight, feeling the ring dig into his palm.

“A gift from a faerie.” Lalna leaned back to make room for Will as he reached the top of the stairs. “Isn't that, like, magic one-oh-one?”

“Shut up,” Will snapped, no real heat behind the words.

Lalna shrugged, turning to go to his bedroom. It was down the hall, near Will's attic stairway, and Lalna spared him a final, sympathetic glance, before shutting his door, shaking the numerous plastic signs pinned to his door with the force of the vibration.

Will stood in the hall for a long moment. When he heard the shouting start downstairs, Xephos' voice pitched high and dangerously close to invoking another spell, he rushed up the stairs, but kept them open for a quick escape, in case he needed to intervene.

Even Will wasn't sure what he'd started, but he didn't intend to be absent when trouble boiled over.

 

* * *

 

Honeydew went back to the kitchen almost immediately, scrambling to make some tea, as Xephos stared down Kirin.

He'd never summoned a sidhe lord before, had never needed or wanted to, but when Xephos had seen the ring on Will's finger that morning, he knew today would be a lot of firsts for everyone, including himself. He'd worried the circle wouldn't hold, as he told Honeydew to push the furniture back and make space, gripping his purest chalk tight in one hand to draw the circle and runes.

However, Kirin was holding just fine. Xephos could hardly believe it, but didn't let his shock show through as he looked up and down Kirin's form. It wavered, like the shimmering air above a campfire, and he knew instantly that Kirin's glamour was fading, flickering with the power of the trap holding him in place. Already, Xephos could see the outline of something above his head, possibly the rumored horns everyone claimed that Kirin possessed.

Appearance didn't interest him nearly as much as Kirin's motivations, though.

Kirin's lips were a thin line, shoulders squared. “It was a gift.”

The kitchen door opened and closed. Honeydew came in, the kettle set to boil, and stood by Xephos, fidgeting.

“It was a _trap_ and you know it,” Xephos said, sneering. “And now you're going to sit there and think about how _I put you there_. Understood?”

Kirin's lips pulled back in a snarl, but Xephos turned before he could get the noise out, stalking into the kitchen with jerky steps and slamming the kitchen door right in Kirin's face.

A moment later, it clicked open, and Xephos turned to land hard eyes on Honeydew. His expression softened immediately, and Xephos went to the counter to finish making himself the tea he'd been preparing. Honeydew came up behind him, heavy hands settling over Xephos' hips, his forehead resting at the center of Xephos' back. “Love,” he said, voice tight but patient.

“I know,” Xephos said, sighing. He took his brewed tea to the kitchen table, kicking out two of the chairs and taking one of them, clutching the mug in his hands. “It has to be done,” he said, pressing his lips together. “I can't let him do this.”

Honeydew took the other chair, leaning his elbow on the table with his chin in his palm. “So you trapped a faerie in our living room? That isn't a longterm solution.”

“It's a solution, all right?” Xephos snapped, bringing the tea up to sip at it and calm his anger. He didn't mean to take it out on Honeydew, or anyone else. In his own house, though, a crossfire was unavoidable. The house’s threshold would keep Kirin from his magic, and the ring would keep _them_ from Kirin, and right now, that was what he needed.

Xephos sipped at the tea so slowly that it went cold, and by the time he drank the last of it, the dregs catching on the sides of the cup as he tilted the mug back, the clock read twelve, and it'd been too long and yet not enough time since he'd woken up for a nice, long nap.

Honeydew stood, rubbing Xephos' back with a heavy hand. “Why don't you take a bath, love?” he suggested, reaching to pry the mug from Xephos' long fingers.

“Ugh, please.” Xephos groaned and slumped forward, resting his forehead on one arm as he folded it over the table. “A bath would be . . . nice.”

“So get to it, then.” Honeydew laughed quietly, pulling on Xepho's arm to help him sit up and guide him from the chair. Xephos rolled his eyes and accepted the help, following Honeydew's short steps out the second kitchen doorway and down the hall to the stairs. He didn't have to ask to know why Honeydew was avoiding the living room path.

They went upstairs, and Xephos paused for a moment to look at the attic stairs, unfolded, the doorway to the attic pulled up and exposing the room. He could see the window in the attic and the edges of Will's dresser, but no sign of Will himself. After a moment, he sighed, and let Honeydew pull him the rest of the way to the bathroom.

Their master bath was twice as big as the hallway’s bathroom, and, more importantly, it had a large tub. Built into the wall with mirrors on two sides, the other sides open to the bathroom, it was the most modern thing Xephos had indulged in when he bought the house. The entirety of the structure spoke of age, wisdom, the years built into its foundation and walls. The creaks and groans when the house swayed during a storm, the way the roof bent the slightest degree if too much snow settled on it, how the pipes hummed when they ran hot water, it was a spell of the years, and Xephos had lived in the house long enough to recognize all the pieces of the lives that had been here before him, the laughter and arguments woven into the house's wood and stone.

The bath had not existed when he and Honeydew had moved in, the master bathroom containing only a small tub and shower combination, and, at the expense of the house's entire character, they'd hired a contractor and had a larger tub installed. It had helped with Xephos' sanity, especially when Lalna and Will had both come along.

Honeydew started running the water immediately, testing it with his fingers until it ran hot. The familiar squeaks of water rushing through the pipes was music to Xephos' ears, knowing it would all fill the tub he'd soon be in. He discarded his robe and worked on the tie of his pajama pants, only pausing for a moment before pulling them off.

Predictably, Honeydew whistled. Xephos slapped him lightly on the head before testing the water slowly filling the base of the tub, deeming it acceptable and stepping in. “Get me some wine,” he said, body tensing and relaxing as the hot water sunk into his skin, burning over the surface in the best of ways.

Honeydew hummed and leaned over the edge of the tub, kissing Xephos' temple. “Anything for you, love. Just relax, all right?”

The thought of Kirin downstairs and Will hiding in the attic set Xephos' teeth on edge, and he shakily nodded, sliding further in the tub as the water lapped at his waist. “Wine, please and thank you,” he said again, his eyes slipping closed.

Honeydew waited, watching Xephos close his eyes and enjoy the water coming up around his belly, before turning and closing the door to the bath. He might say something about being ordered around so harshly, but today was an exceptionally awful day. Some wine would help.

On his way back downstairs, Honeydew went to Lalna's bedroom door and tapped it with his knuckles. “Lalna?”

A pause, before the door opened a crack, and Lalna peeked out.

Honeydew rolled his eyes, hands on his hips. “You and Will better make dinner tonight,” he said, looking back toward the master bedroom. “Xephos isn't getting on well today.”

Lalna opened his door a bit farther, peering out to look at the master bedroom door. Nodding shakily, his hand tight where it gripped the edge of his door, he said, “Sure. We can do that.”

Honeydew grunted his approval and waved once, turning to go down the stairs. He heard Lalna's bedroom door click shut behind him, and took the stairs quickly, hurrying to get Xephos the wine he so desperately needed.

He didn't spare a glance at Kirin, taking the long way around the hall to get to the kitchen and the basement door beyond it. They kept their best wine in the cellar, used only for special occasions or when Xephos seemed to be gaining a few extra grey hairs. Honeydew breathed deep as he descended the basement stairs, feeling stone and earth surround him, the parts of the world he liked best seeping into his bones. Places like the cellar, built of stone, settled his heart and slowed his breathing, putting him at ease.

Honeydew didn't have much of an affinity for fancy magic, the kind Will did that flashed and danced in front of people's eyes, and he couldn’t pull off the useful things like Xephos, the spells that helped strengthen their home and protect their loved ones. He'd never been good at magic at all, as a dwarf, only getting marginally better at even detecting it when he'd married Xephos.

But the one thing he did know was stone. Stones and gems that glittered and sparkled in the sun, and the harsher stones that only reflected the barest amount of light of their dull surfaces. Honeydew could hold a rock in his hand and know where it had been, who had touched it, how old it was and where it had been created. Stones were like children to him, all unique with their own story.

It had been discouraging, to see Will's ring and know immediately that it wasn't stone at all. Perhaps they'd all be in a better spot if Honeydew had lied about it.

He walked up to the small shelf in the cellar that held their best wines, selecting the sweet, fruity one Xephos liked when he was upset. His mission accomplished, Honeydew only spent a few extra moments breathing in the heavy set of dirt and rock just beyond the cellar walls, before turning and going back upstairs, to the kitchen.

Xephos had sunk into the water while Honeydew was gone, sitting in it up to his ears, short tendrils of his black hair, edged with grey, floating around his head, and his long legs poking out the water. Honeydew closed the bathroom door as quietly as he could, wine bottle and two glasses juggled carefully between his fingers, and he set all three on the edge of the bath, sitting on the floor and resting his elbow on the dull white bath walls. “How are you, love?”

Xephos' stopped glaring at the water to flick his eyes up to Honeydew, and sat up enough for his mouth to come above the surface. “Could be better,” he said, and finally sat up, water sliding down his brown skin as he sighed, leaning back against the wall behind him.

Honeydew hummed in sympathy, grabbing the wine and pouring them both a glass, Xephos' a third more full than his own. He knew the look of a man who needed a good drink, and tried not to laugh as Xephos took his wine gratefully and sipped at it. He groaned as it hit his tongue, sinking down a few more inches in the bath.

Just as Honeydew lifted his own glass, Xephos whined again, this time long and loud, and Honeydew froze, turning to Xephos to catch him rubbing a thin hand over his face, fingers covering the skin like spider's legs as they clenched and twisted their way down. Xephos dropped his free hand back in the water, the other clutching his wine glass like a lifeline. “Honeydew,” he said, in that exasperated tone that meant he _knew_ there wasn't anything to be fixed, but the world itself would be damned if he didn't complain a little, “where did I go wrong?”

“I'm sorry?” Honeydew set his own wine to the side, hefting himself up to sit on the bath's edge and comb his fingers through Xephos' short, damp hair.

“With Will,” he said, eyes shutting as he leaned into Honeydew's touch. “He came here to feel _better_ , after being all mixed up in the countryside. I was supposed to _protect_ him.”

Honeydew dug his fingers gently behind Xephos' ear, scratching the skin with dull nails. “You've been doing your best,” Honeydew said helpfully. “I don't know anyone else trying as hard as you are to give him a place to call home.”

“But it isn't working!” Xephos nearly tossed his wine, throwing his hands up, and carefully lowered them, tilting the wine glass to calm the sloshing liquid. “Why do they make it so hard, Dew?” Xephos looked at him with pleading eyes, blue irises shining in the bathroom lights. “Lalna-- the other one-- he ran off with a dryad, and now Will's got an antler ring that won't come off . . .” He turned his face down, staring at the water, the stem of the wine glass clutched in his long fingers. “Didn't we teach them to avoid fae?”

Honeydew sighed, plucking up strings of Xephos' hair to play with idly, as a distraction for them both. “We did,” he agreed, and couldn't think of anything else to say, so he just slid his hand down to pet Xephos' shoulder. After a moment, as Xephos kept blinking fast and staring at the water, Honeydew reached over and grabbed the wine bottle.

Xephos held up his glass without being asked, and Honeydew poured him a generous amount. Nothing like being drunk on wine in a bathtub in the early afternoon hours.

They stayed upstairs for a good, long while, Xephos moaning about Will and Lalna's choices, Honeydew patting him and pouring more wine, until Xephos had downed three glasses and Honeydew thought it appropriate to stop, taking both bottle and glass and resting them on the bathroom counter. Xephos sunk back in the water in their absence, blowing bubbles with his breath.

It was another hour or two after the wine had been put away that Honeydew dared to test the bath water and found it less than lukewarm. “You should be getting out soon, love,” he said, and kissed Xephos' forehead before standing up. “I'll go ask Will and Lalna to start preparing for dinner, all right? We'll make something right fancy that has to cook in the oven or something, don't worry at all about it.”

Xephos hummed, lifting his face from the water briefly and beckoning Honeydew down. Honeydew laughed and bent over, letting Xephos kiss him, and waved as he went to the bathroom door. “Don't freeze,” he warned, and left, shutting the door quietly behind him.

He'd meant to go to Lalna's room and ask him to take the beef out from the freezer to defrost, but Lalna's door was ajar. He always closed it when he was in there, keeping intrusive noses out of his business.

Honeydew titled his head, and went to the stairs, descending with a tight grip on the railing and taking the shorter path to the kitchen without thinking.

In the living room, Kirin had taken up residence in the armchair that Honeydew had barely convinced Xephos to put in the circle, a tail visible and thumping hard against the curling arm and heavy wooden chair legs. Honeydew paused in the living room doorway, blinking at him. Kirin shifted his gaze up from where he'd been staring at the door. “Well?”

Swallowing, Honeydew hurried past, ignoring the extra loud _whump_ of a long, inhuman tail on the side of aged fabric. He'd never seen Kirin's glamour fade, though he hadn't exactly _seen_ much of Kirin, since Xephos insisted on dealing with him. Still, it couldn't be a good sign.

In the kitchen, Honeydew heard sizzling before he saw the two bodies moving around, Will and Lalna pulling out ingredients and pots, working around each other to lay out what they needed. Honeydew could see a bowl of vegetables, already cut, and a pan with a thin layer of water at the bottom, on the stove, beef chunks in their white paper wrapping already laid out and defrosting in it. “You started,” he said without thinking.

Both men jumped at the sound of his voice, and Lalna looked over his shoulder from where he was organizing the herbs. “You asked us to cook dinner,” he said, mildly accusing and partly shocked.

Honeydew crossed his arms. “So I did, so I did.”

Will was bent next to the oven, touching the keypad under the counter with steady fingers to set the temperature. Honeydew recognized the furrow to his brow, the way he licked his lips, as the oven light flicked on, Will's magic no doubt pumping through it to speed the process. The oven would have taken a few hours to get hot enough, but under Will's touch, it easily jumpstarted, already halfway there when Will stood and brushed his hands off on his pants.

Lalna finished in gathering up the herbs and checked on the meat, pressing its middle to test the give, but it didn't bend to his whim, only slightly defrosted. Lalna pulled his hand back and bit his lip. “Is . . . is Kirin staying for dinner?”

Will and Honeydew both raised their eyebrows, turning to look at Lalna with wide eyes.

Lalna squeaked, hands flapping. “I don't _bloody_ know! What's the protocol for having a sidhe lord trapped in your living room?”

Honeydew shook out his stupor first, glancing behind him at the open kitchen doorway, at Kirin with his thumping tail inside the circle. Turning back to Lalna, he said, “You certainly don't invite them to dinner, that's for sure.”

Will swallowed and peered over Honeydew's head to the living room. Honeydew looked at him, Will's desire to go to Kirin and help him practically tangible. “How's the meat?” he asked, stepping up to the stove and testing it despite having just seen Lalna do it. “Are we eating anything else? Side dishes?”

That snapped Will from his reverie. He gave a weak, “Yeah, yeah,” and went to the kitchen counter to grab one of the pots, tipping the vegetables into it and filling it with water from the sink. He set them to boiling, and bent down to grab a few packets of rice from the cupboards, setting them aside as he prepared another pot.

About an hour after starting dinner, there was another loud _thump_ from the living room. Will turned to glance at the living room, and forced himself to look away before he could linger. Kirin was there, had failed to break Xephos' seal all day, as much as Will might have wanted him to. He kept his eyes on the pan as he prepared it to boil, tearing open the first package of flavored rice.

“You know,” a deep, resonant voice called from the living room, and Will tried not to flinch at the sound of it. “I'm not the most comfortable, after sitting in this circle all day.”

Will could feel Honeydew and Lalna looking at him, waiting to see if he would react. He poured the first pack of rice into the pot.

“It's hard to sit in a magic circle all day,” Kirin continued, casually, as though discussing the weather. Will's heart twinged; he _knew_ Kirin was in trouble, could feel the weight of the antler ring on his finger, and yet, the impulse to go to him, to run in and break the circle, had him taking deep breaths. Will's shoulders shook as he poured in the next two rice packets and clicked the burner on.

Honeydew smacked the wooden wall, presumably to get Kirin's attention, and Will turned then, looking at Honeydew's back as he leveled a glare at Kirin. “Oi,” he said, tone low and leaving no room for argument. “We put a fucking armchair in there for you, didn't we? Stop bellyaching.”

Will wouldn't let his eyes go to Kirin, knew he wouldn't last if he did. He shuffled farther into the kitchen, watching the pots carefully as he pulled out a kitchen chair and sat down.

“It's not just that!” Kirin called, his voice echoing throughout the house, bouncing off the ancient walls of wood and thick plaster. “Your lovely husband got me in the middle of work hours; my shop is still open with no one tending it! What if the garbage court finds it?”

That almost got Will. The thought of the dangerous trio and their mortal king falling upon Kirin's shop, tripping into the doorway with wide smiles and words of how an unlocked door was as good as an open invitation, made Will shiver. They would destroy it out of spite and light it on fire to send a message.

“I'm sure it's fine,” Honeydew said, handwaving the issue. “Just shut up, why don't you? No need to alleviate your boredom by guilting Will to death.”

Will looked up, sharp, and saw Honeydew glancing at him, lips tipped up. “I won't let him get to you,” he said, quiet, so Kirin wouldn't hear. Louder, facing the living room again, he said, “Sit there and enjoy it, because you're not coming out.”

Kirin made some noise of complaint, irritated and dismissive, and Honeydew slammed the kitchen door shut, the loud bang of wood on wood bursting over the air and lingering in echoes in Will's brain. He rested a hand on the kitchen table, scratching over the surface with dull nails, trying not to pull and fidget with the ring again.

The oven rose to the proper temperature, and Will got up, taking the beef from the pan where it was defrosting, slipping his thumb under the tape that held the paper covering together, nodding to Lalna. “Can you get me a pan for this?”

Lalna had been staring at the door, and jumped, nodding shakily before he went to the cupboards and pulled out a long, thin tray, setting it atop the counter. Will placed the beef chunks on it and grabbed the herbs, dashing a few over the surface of the meat before he put on oven mitts and opened the door of the oven, bracing himself for the heat.

His glasses fogged at the cloud of hot air that puffed out, and Will did his best to peer through it as he grabbed the tray of meat with both hands and slid it inside, on the higher metal shelf, and closed the oven. “Should be ready in an hour or so,” he said, taking off the mitts, and looking at the other men in the room.

Lalna had leaned against the counter, biting his lips. Honeydew was staring at the kitchen door with his arms crossed.

Will brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “This is going to be a long evening, isn't it?” The weight of the ring was like lead around his finger, and he could picture Kirin, on the other side of the door, glamour faded and tail swishing back and forth. Will had seen the appendage one other time, fully aware that Kirin had _let_ him see it, on a slow day in the shop when they'd been discussing new wares over a cup of hot tea. The tail had curled over Will's wrist, and though he'd _known_ Kirin was a faerie, that was the day it had really sunk in.

A few days later was the day before Christmas Eve, when Kirin had slipped the ring box into Will's hands with words of having a merry holiday and enjoying the gift. Perhaps there was a reason Kirin had let Will see the tail when he did.

Will shook the thoughts from his head, just as the sound of footsteps on the stairs creaked through the ancient wood of the house, and the door to the living room eased open. Xephos, with wet hair and clear skin but just as much strain in his eyes, edged his way into the kitchen, groaning as he leaned on the doorway.

Honeydew went to him immediately. “Did you have a good bath, love?”

“Yes.” Xephos managed a small smile, before it fell. “Too bad I remembered what we were doing as soon as I got out.” He lifted his head, nose crinkling as he sniffed. “Are you guys making food?” His eyebrows lifted as he straightened up, glancing at the oven.

Lalna shrugged. “We didn't think having you cook would be a good idea.”

Kirin's voice drifted in from the living room. “I can smell that food, you know! I wouldn't mind a bite. I've been here for hours; I missed lunch!”

Xephos shoulders shot up around his ears, tense and shaking. “Did he _really_ \--”

“He's not inviting himself to dinner,” Honeydew cut in. “We won't let that happen. We'll just, just sit down and have a good meal and think about what we're all going to do about this and no one is going to let the stress get to them, all right?” He'd brought his hands up, placating, and Xephos turned hard eyes on him, narrow as slits. Will glanced at Lalna, and they both backed up a step.

“I need tea,” Xephos announced, and brushed past Honeydew to get to the electric kettle, pulling it off its stand and filling it with tap water. Will pressed his hand on the counter by the kettle stand, subtle as he could, and sent a burst of energy to the machine, willing it to work efficiently and heat the water fast, before Xephos put the kettle down and shot him a look, eyes flicking to Will's hands. “You,” he said, tone milder than before. “I'm not sure I want you staying here tonight.”

“What?” Will's eyes went wide, blinking slowly. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Xephos said, taking a deep breath, “that your ring is the reason for this whole mess, and I don't want to put you in any danger. It would be too easy for Kirin to influence you. We're going to wait for dinner to cook, eat it, and then . . .” Xephos drifted off, pursing his lips. “We'll figure something out.”

Will crossed him arms with a huff. “You're kicking me out of my own house.”

“For your safety--” Xephos started.

“Oi!”

They both stopped, and looked at Honeydew, who glared at them with hands on his hips. “Dinner's gonna be ready soon,” he said, tilting his head toward the oven. “We can talk like mature adults until then. I don't want us bickering back and forth when we've got a sidhe lord stuck in a chalk circle between the couch and the window.”

Xephos looked at Will, and Honeydew, and deflated a bit, shoulders slumped. “No,” he said. “No, I suppose not.”

“Excuse me?”

They all jumped again at the sound of Kirin's voice. He'd been quiet during their fighting. Will looked up at the kitchen doorway, at the bit of Kirin he could see from where he stood. Without thinking, he went to the living room, ignoring the way Xephos sputtered behind him.

“Kirin?” he asked, stepping slowly up to the circle. Kirin was sitting in the armchair, legs resting over one arm with his back propped on the other, his tail curled over his legs. Will could feel Kirin’s magic fighting against the edges of the circle, warping inside it and pushing the walls of his boundary. “Is something wrong?” Will followed with, when Kirin only stared.

He blinked, and turned, looking at the doorway. Will looked with him, and saw Honeydew, Xephos, and Lalna crowded by the door. “My shop's been open for hours,” he said, calm and measured but with a hint of emphasis, his eyes flicking to Will and back. “I don't have anyone else there right now, and no cell phone. Lalna, could you be a dear and call Nilesy for me, ask him to lock up?”

Lalna sucked in a sharp breath, but reached in his pocket. Will tensed.

Honeydew snatched Lalna's wrist. “What are you doing?!” he hissed. “What did we teach you? Doing a sidhe lord favors.” Honeydew clicked his tongue as he pulled Lalna's phone from his hands.

Will's heart beat wildly, and he looked at Kirin, who had turned from the group clustered at the doorway, his eyes straight on Will's and unwavering. Will glanced at the doorway, Lalna complaining about his phone and Xephos rubbing his temples, and slipped his own phone out of his pocket.

It was simple enough to grip it tight and tap a text message out to Nilesy, the phone half hidden behind his leg. He urged the phone to send it quickly, shooting a burst of magic through it to help the text along before anyone could tell him not to.

Will put it away before anyone had looked up, glancing at Kirin and his wild blue eyes, the flicking tail, and edging his way back to Xephos. “I need to check the vegetables,” he said, voice small and more frail than he'd intended.

Xephos paused in rubbing fingers over his face, blinking back to awareness. “Oh, sure.” He stepped aside, letting Will in the kitchen. Will picked up a spoon and started pressing on the boiling vegetables in their pot, face burning from more than the heat of the oven, his pocket heavy with the weight of his phone.

In a few moments, Xephos was with him too, and Lalna and Honeydew followed shortly, Lalna's phone still in Honeydew's hands. “I'm calling Lomadia,” Xephos announced, grabbing the house phone off the receiver.

Will tensed, and let it go in a long, shallow breath. There would be no use fighting it, not when Xephos was this determined. Will doubted he could stop Xephos in anything after he'd summoned Kirin into his home.

Honeydew leaned against the door between the living room and kitchen, his eyes on Kirin and his hands on Lalna's phone, as Xephos ranted to Lomadia.

“He's here. Yes, in a circle, what do you take me for? No. Yes.” Xephos paced back and forth, alternating between babbling about their situation and biting his lip in silence as he listened to Lomadia on the other end. Will wasn't sure how long they had been friends, only knew that Xephos was almost as close to Lomadia as he was to Honeydew, and that they often traded favors.

Xephos stopped next to the stove as Will took the rice off the burner, keeping the lid in place to stop the rice from drying out. Will watched as he clenched his fingers and breathed deep through his nose, and, after a minute of silence, nodded.

“Right, okay.” Xephos took the phone off his ear and hung up. “Lomadia is coming to get Will after dinner.” He leveled a look at Will, lips pursed.

Will swallowed the protest on his lips, and forced himself to shrug. “Sure.”

Xephos nodded, satisfied, and said, “How's the beef?”

Lalna got up from where he sat by the kitchen table, turning the oven light on and bending down to check the state of the meat. “Eh,” he said, waving his hand noncommittally. “I'd give it another few minutes, but we can start setting up.”

Xephos took that and ran with it, opening a cupboard to take out plates. Will turned the burner off for the vegetables and pulled out serving plates and large spoons, dumping the vegetables on one and the rice on another, while Lalna and Honeydew set the table in the dining room.

Will paused at the window of the dining room as he set down the serving plates. It was on the other side of the house, facing the backyard. The shades had been drawn up, the light of the evening slipping in. The street lamps were barely visible, shining at the front of the house, neon light seeping into the small yard.

His hands tightened on the serving plate of rice. He could feel it, the way the city breathed, through the thin glass of the window that barely let the city slip past the house's threshold. Glass could only hold so much, and Will could see the tendrils of the city, the grasping creep of magic that curled around buildings and thrummed in the wires below the ground, drawing electricity and life from every corner.

It was _complaining_ . As soon as he saw it, Will couldn't _not_ be aware of it, stumbling back from the window, almost dropping the plate as a hand snapped up to hold his head. The city was screeching, in pain, calling out to fill the broken corners and roots holding it together, a keystone ripped from its place and crumbling the energy built around it.

Kirin.

They'd taken him from his shop before he'd had a chance to close it, had trapped him in a circle within a threshold. The city couldn't reach him, the connections and deals and favors tied around him straining with the pressure, snapping one by one.

The light in the backyard dimmed, and Will rushed to set down the rice, to lean against the wall and hold his forehead in his hands. Animals, begging for food and fighting with each other. Water dripping down the gutters like mud, losing all clarity from its form. Lights going dim, traffic slowing to a standstill, all pouring into his mind the moment he'd started thinking of it, the city's energy crashing through the window. He could hear the glass straining, groaning, as it struggled to keep it all back.

“Will!”

He opened his eyes, and it was all gone in a snap, like splashing cold water on his face. Honeydew was staring at him, eyes wrinkled and confused. Will forced himself to breath slowly, to focus, and let his shoulders drop. The weight of the city pulled them down farther, and Will had to breathe again to stand up from the wall.

“I'm fine,” he said, though now he could feel the edges of the city, like a serrated knife rubbing down the back of his spine. Only a moment of awareness and it refused to leave him, the protection of Xephos' home nothing compared to Will's affinity for the city's life, its breath, and the magic tying cords around his ankles, keeping him bound to it in a way Will still didn't understand.

Kirin ruled this city. Will had known that, and yet, it had never sunk in.

Honeydew eyed him with disbelief, and reached up to pat his cheek. “We'll get you to Lomadia's soon,” he said, and turned, setting down the forks in his other hand next to the plates.

When dinner started, it was the quietest meal they'd had since Will first came in from the countryside. The first night, no one had known how to talk to each other, and Xephos was so nervous about Will adjusting to a city and using his technomancy in a place actually suited for it, that he hadn't been able to strike good conversation. And since Xephos was the only one in the house that Will had really known, he'd been at a loss for what to say to Honeydew and Lalna, and stayed silent.

Now, the faerie version of an elephant in the room hung too heavy over their heads for anyone to talk. Kirin could be heard, tail thumping his chair, and once, Will thought he heard claws scratching fabric, tearing it. If Xephos' brocade armchair got damaged, the wrath would only be that much worse, but at this point, Kirin had been there since that morning, and Will doubted that he cared.

The city still pounded on Will's mind, seeping through glass and under cracks in the walls, wriggling its way past the home's barriers to reach him, to call to someone and beg for a solution, some way to replace Kirin's absence. It wanted Will to help, to give himself up, to serve as a conduit between those tied to the sidhe lord and the people of the city, the thousands of deals and debts all derived from one central point and _Kirin was missing_.

Will dropped his knife, curling up in his chair. The city clawed at the edges of his mind, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes and burning hot trails down his cheeks. Will buried his face as best he could between his knees, hands locked over the back of his head, like they would shield him from the city's despair.

“Fucking-- god damn it.” Honeydew's chair whined as he pushed it back, and Will felt his hands over his back, rubbing gently.

He might have said something else, but there was a knock at the door. Will stiffened where he sat, and wiped his face against his pant leg before looking up. The knock on the front door rang through the house again, and Xephos scrambled to get up, tucking his chair carefully into the table before hurrying out to the hallway.

He came back in a few minutes, hesitating by the door. Will looked up, meeting Xephos' eyes. “It's Lomadia,” he said. “She doesn't want to come inside.”

Will glanced down, between his knees, where his hands were clasped and the ring shone, the light glinting off it. He could still feel the city crying, tearing at the edges of his brain and dragging him to its call, begging him to fix, to help, to do _anything_ \--

“Okay.” Will shot up from his chair, breathing hard, hands curled into fists. “I'll get my bag,” he said, and moved past Xephos, shoving him as he hurried through the kitchen, down the hall, away from Kirin and away from the city's desperate cries echoing in his mind like frightened children.

He snatched the nearest bag from beside his bed, an old backpack, and threw a random set of clothes inside. From the upstairs bathroom, Will got his toothbrush, and threw the bag over his shoulder, hurrying down the stairs.

Lomadia was on the other side of the front door. Will could see her blonde hair, covered by a thick cap shaped like an owl's face. Xephos was just inside, Will's shoes already taken out from the front closet. “Thanks,” Will muttered, slipping the sneakers on. Xephos opened the door, and Lomadia looked up sharply, eyes narrowed.

Will stopped, and took a step back, peering inside the living room from the hall. He could see Kirin in the armchair, and Kirin turned as soon as Will looked, their eyes catching, harsh blue and soft green, and Will could feel his pull, how much he wanted to go to him. The city called in harsh whines and pressed in on his skull, amplified a thousand times when Kirin waved his tail and brought a hand up, motioning Will closer.

The living room door slammed shut. Xephos stood in front of him, frowning. “Come on,” he said, and released the door to snatch Will's elbow and drag him back to Lomadia. Will swallowed and looked back at the door one last time, Kirin's gaze nearly penetrating it, before he felt the cold of winter and snow sliding under his boots.

Lomadia caught him as Xephos shoved him out, releasing Will once he stood steady on his feet.

He was only steady for a moment, before the city got him.

If Will had thought it was bad inside Xephos' house, the pain multiplied by a factor of hundreds once outside, past the threshold. Will gasped and clutched the door's edge, knees buckling.

The cables and roots of the city, anchored at Kirin's shop, now pulled and snapped and whipped in loose tendrils through the streets. Subway trains stopped on their lines, houses went dim as the electricity lost its path in the wires, trash cans fell into the streets and buildings groaned under the winter wind, all of it weak and crashing without Kirin to hold it all together.

Will keened, high in his throat, tears pricking his eyes. His knuckles were white on the door as he held tighter and tighter, skin threatening to break. He thought he might chip a tooth with how hard he was gritting his teeth, but he couldn't stop, had to channel the pain _somewhere_ and the pressure on his jaw was the only thing he could focus on to take away the serrated cuts of the broken city.

“Please,” he spat out, finally getting his jaw loose again, “Lomadia, please--”

“Right!” She took Will's wrist and dragged him up, saluting Xephos before pulling him down. “You're staying with us,” she said, as though Will didn't already know the game plan. “Nilesy and his cat are at home, we'll get you settled and you won't have to worry.”

Her tone was clipped, business-like, and it comforted Will to an extent, to know Lomadia wasn't messing around. She rarely did, especially when someone asked a favor, at least from what Will knew.

Still, her confidence didn't stop the shrieking cry of the city as Will got in the car, and though the doors muffled the desperation as they shut and Lomadia started driving, it wasn't enough. A headache pounded behind Will's eyes, and his fingers shook, the ring like lead and the city wrapping around him, constricting him. He panted hard and rested his forehead against the back of the driver's seat.

The car ride was awful. Will curled hands over his stomach and begged it silently to calm down, but it was like someone had chucked him on a boat during a storm after he'd eaten too much milk. His body wouldn’t settle, and every turn Lomadia made had him almost hurling. When they finally reached Lomadia's house, Will almost fell in his seat, only keeping upright because Lomadia had opened his door and started pulling him out.

Will did his best not to whine, to keep his composure and not ruin his image with Lomadia, someone he'd spent very little time with.

One of Kirin's meditation sessions would have helped, if he could have sat down with Will, put his hands on Will's back and whispered in his ear about being calm and relaxing. But of course that option wasn't there, not with Kirin trapped in Xephos' house for however long Xephos wanted him.

Lomadia shushed his noises, helping Will across the driveway and into her house. The door was locked, and Will swayed in her grip as she fumbled with the keys and pushed him inside. The call of the city quieted when they made it inside, but Lomadia's house wasn't as strong as Xephos', and what upset Will at his uncle's home made him hiss with pain here, willing the claws of the city to pry themselves away from his mind, fighting against the touch of electric fire and cables rooted to Kirin's presence.

“Nilesy!” Lomadia called, pushing harder until Will was in the living room, guiding him to the couch. She lay Will down and looked him in the eye, standing when she found nothing incredibly wrong. Will guessed his behavior was either expected, or something she'd dealt with before.

“Nilesy!” she yelled again, just as Nilesy came tramping down the stairs and poked his head through the living room door.

“Uh, yes? Is Will-- oh!” Nilesy straightened and stepped in the room. Will lifted his head to try and greet him properly, but the city, so loud and desperate, whined in his ears and made his eyes spin, and Will let out a quiet groan as he set his head down on the pillow at one end of the couch.

“Christ,” Nilesy whispered, fingers locked together and fiddling as he struggled to take in the sight of Will. “Are you okay?”

Will glared weakly at him. “Never better.”

“Make him some tea,” Lomadia said, pulling a blanket off the back of the couch and settling it over Will. From the corner of his eyes, Will could see a cat, walking through the door and padding up to the couch until it was in Will's line of sight, meowing quietly.

Nilesy blinked. “Er, tea. Right.” He scurried off, back the way he'd come, and soon, Will could hear pots and pans, and the sound of an oil stove clicking as it ignited flames to set a pot of hot water.

A few minutes later, Nilesy returned, with a cup and saucer. Lomadia urged Will up, helping him curl the blanket over his shoulders and tuck it over his lap. “Give me that,” she said, and took the tea from Nilesy, pulling the coffee table closer with her other hand and setting the tea on it. Once free, her hand ran through Will's hair, petting in quick, soothing motions. “Drink up, you'll feel better,” she whispered, sitting next to Will on the couch and moving the tea closer, offering it.

Nilesy glanced about and caught sight of his cat. “Here!” he said, and grabbed the cat, setting it down on Will's other side. “Fishbone will help, he loves people.”

“Nilesy,” Lomadia hissed, but Will turned to look at Fishbone, how he blinked wide eyes at Will and meowed again. Will closed his eyes, pushing away the sticky touch of the city's fingers and the dig of its nails, and picked up Fishbone, setting him in his lap and idly petting with one hand.

“See?” Nilesy said, and Will stared at Fishbone, how his rump rose each time Will's hand passed from his neck to his tail and paused to scratch at the base of the tail, to hit the spot the cat liked most.

Something pulled at the back of his neck, scrabbling, trying to get his attention, and Will breathed out as he felt it, shoulders tensing but letting himself explore. Kirin's shop, the center of the city, and the scrabbling got worse, razors digging in the flesh of Will's neck. Danger, a threat, something going wrong, and Will's stomach did a sudden somersault, as he let the sight and sound of the shop come to him.

A snap.

The windows, the barriers of the threshold, broken. Destroyed, shattered, smashed with the glee of vague figures in Will's mind, beings that only meant harm. Will gasped, eyes flying open, and stood up. Fishbone yowled and the tea jostled as his legs hit the table, and Will didn't see any of it, could barely think as the screech of pain rang through his mind. He slammed his palms over his ears but it didn't stop the sound, the _pain_ as Kirin's shop was violated. Nilesy had locked up but Kirin wasn't there and danger had seen itself inside, breaking windows and crawling in like a slug, leaving its essence over the floor and the walls and the pieces of broken glass littering the ground.

On his finger, the antler ring burned.

 

* * *

 

Honeydew patted Xephos' arm gently, as Xephos struggled to keep himself together.

They'd finished dinner and sent Lalna to bed after Will left. Against Honeydew's better judgement, Xephos had gone to the living room and sat on the couch, staring Kirin down while Kirin's tail thumped the chair and his long nails, sharper than they'd been when Kirin first arrived, dug into the chair's soft fabric. Xephos could only look for a few minutes, before the stare became too much and he turned away.

Honeydew tried to watch him, too, but the glitter above Kirin's head had him shifting uncomfortably on the couch cushions, knowing something was there that he couldn't quite see, but that was coming into his vision the angrier Kirin got and the more his glamour faded.

About an hour after Will had left, something happened.

Honeydew couldn't name it, but Kirin sat up, eyes wide, and curled over, bending over his knees and growling. His teeth clenched, fingers digging harder in the chair and puncturing the wood underneath the fabric with a quiet _thunk_. His horns flickered into view, blue and crystalline and everything Honeydew didn't want in a gemstone, before they faded again, and Kirin looked up, his nostrils flared, shoulders tense.

“Do you think,” he whispered, his voice barely controlled, “that I am a weed you can rip out of your garden, Xephos? That you can pull me up from the roots and be done with it?”

Xephos shot up from where he stared at the floor, brow furrowed. “Uh.” He fumbled for words, and Honeydew rubbed his back again, reassuring. Xephos sat up straighter, breathing deep. “No,” he said, “b-but sometimes plants need to be pruned.” He stopped, licking his lips, and looked down at Honeydew, who nodded. Xephos was terrible with metaphors and they both knew it.

“We have to talk about Will,” Xephos said, fingers digging into his knees. “But first, ah.” He blinked down at Honeydew again, his eyes searching.

Honeydew stood and put a hand to the back of Xephos' neck. “I'll make pancakes.”

Xephos sighed gratefully, relaxing, and Honeydew marched into the kitchen to get the pancake mix from the pantry. It was late, and pancakes were silly, but sometimes they needed silly things to help them feel better.

As he mixed the batter and started the stove, Honeydew could hear Xephos sigh and imagine how he'd slumped on the couch, bowing his body to take the weight of his thoughts. “Maybe we were wrong,” he said, loud enough for Honeydew to hear. He peeked through the doorway and caught sight of Xephos with his head in his hands, and turned back, frowning as he poured the batter into the pan he'd grabbed.

“Wrong about what?” he asked.

“About . . . Will.” Xephos sighed, and Honeydew could almost see him running ragged fingers through his hair, grabbing the strands. “Maybe we shouldn't have brought him to the city. Maybe we should . . . send him back. Back to his parents, and away from all of _this_.”

Honeydew stopped, watching the pancake batter slowly burn, and opened his mouth.

“Will is _bathed_ in this city,” Kirin said, before Honeydew could come up with a good counter. Honeydew peered past the doorway again, and saw Kirin staring at Xephos, while Xephos kept his head down. Kirin smirked as he said, “Will is as much a part of the city as I am tied to my shop. Taking him away would be like ripping the strings off a harp. It would destroy Will inside and make him into something very different from the little sorcerer that you know.”

“Shut up!” Xephos growled, head snapping up. Honeydew jumped, backing away from the door and turning back to the stove. He flipped the pancakes hurriedly and slid them on plates, pouring a few dollops of syrup on them before he brought the plates to the living room. Kirin frowned at them both as they quickly ate, filling their stomachs and settling their minds with warm food.

Once they finished and the plates were put in the sink, Xephos stood, marching up to Kirin's circle and stopping just at the edge, crossing his arms over his chest. “Kirin,” he said, curt.

Kirin raised a brow. “Xephos.”

“You can't keep a hold like that on Will,” Xephos said, tensing. Honeydew got up from the couch to stand beside him, unwilling to meet Kirin's eyes but more than happy to be Xephos' rock.

Kirin shifted, finally getting up from the armchair they'd provided, now ripped to shreds under his touch. It hadn't been an _old_ chair, but it was one of the ones in the house when Honeydew and Xephos had first bought it, and Honeydew wished they hadn't given Kirin something with so much history behind it. He probably could have used that, if he had half a mind to.  

“The ring,” Kirin said, standing at his full height, a good head taller than Xephos, “was a gift. Nothing more.”

“Fae gifts are dangerous,” Xephos snarled back. “It's more curse than blessing.”

“Maybe--” Honeydew cut in, and they both shot him a sharp look. Honeydew swallowed, gathering his courage, and looked between Xephos and Kirin. “Maybe the ring is disruptive to Will's magic,” he said, unsure of his words but unwilling to back down. “Will came here to control his magic,” he added, frowning at Kirin. “He wasn't meant to get involved with you. A visible hold like that ring would restrict him. Wouldn't it?” He raised an eyebrow at Xephos, who nodded and faced Kirin alongside him.

Kirin grinned, flashing teeth that were much sharper than Honeydew remembered them being in his few casual encounters with Kirin. It was more than possible that he’d remembered incorrectly, and Honeydew wasn't sure which truth he was more comfortable with.

“Xephos,” he said, clicking his tongue as though scolding a child, “I _am_ Will's magic. I've taught him more about his magic and this city than you ever could have. Taking him from me will be as bad as removing Will from the city. If you take him from me, you take Will away from everything he knows about magic.”

Xephos hissed and turned, fists clenched. Honeydew could see it in his eyes, how he fought with the logic. They'd all known Will was working at Kirin's shop, that he was coming home smelling like herbs and flowers. They could see the signs, when he changed from a scared technomancer to a tentatively powerful city sorcerer, and how much of that change came after he’d started talking about Kirin with less wary tones than anyone else in the house.

They'd hoped, Honeydew and Xephos, that it was something else. Late night discussions over coffee and tea, dark circles under their eyes, as they proposed different reasons that Will could have grown so much. His strange friendship with Ross, where the gargoyle climbed in his window and they spent the early morning hours stargazing. Nilesy, who came by the house to drop supplies off from Lomadia and waved to Will, chatting back and forth about small magics, Nilesy without the skill and Will without the experience.

Even Will's daily errands through the city would have been a good explanation, a way for him to get to know the city. But Honeydew and Xephos both knew that it was his part time position at Kirin's shop that did him the most good, that helped Will grow and flourish as he learned to accept and utilize his magic.

A faerie and a mortal. Only Kirin could come out on top.

“Two days a week,” Xephos said, blowing out a long breath as he looked at Kirin. “He works at your shop two days a week, and you leave him bloody well alone for the rest of it.”

“Five,” Kirin snapped back, not missing a beat. “I keep him full time and he's home on the weekends.”

“Three!” Honeydew said, a hand on the small of Xephos' back as he glared at Kirin. “Three fucking days a week, and you take off the damn ring. You've got enough of a hold on him without it, and we all know that.”

Kirin slammed his tail on the floor, lips lifting in a sneer. Above his head, the glamour on his horns faded again, flickering in and out of sight.

Xephos didn't flinch. “I could keep you in there all night,” he said. Honeydew shot him a look, and quickly turned away. Xephos _could_ , if he truly wanted to, though it would exhaust him.

Kirin glanced back, out the window behind him. “The city,” he said. “It's crying for me, probably has been since you put me in here.” He turned his head down a few degrees, barely enough to meet Xephos' eyes. “I can't imagine what that's doing to Will, right now.”

Xephos went stiff, his entire body like a statue as he met Kirin's gaze, refusing to back down. Honeydew rubbed his back, leaning to press their bodies together. Xephos relaxed a bit, though his shoulders stayed tense.

The stand off lasted a few minutes, before Xephos sighed, lips pulled tight. “Fine,” he growled. “Four days a week, take _off_ the ring, and if you pull something like this again, I _will_ summon you. I did it once, I can do it again, and the city be damned, I'll keep you in the ring for a fucking _month_.”

The anger dripped from Kirin's face slowly, like wet paint on a ceiling, until he grinned again. “Very well,” he said. “I'll take the ring off. And I get Will at my shop for a majority of the week days.”

“But for good measure,” Xephos added, quick to jump in as soon as the words left Kirin's mouth, “we're keeping you here overnight.”

Kirin blinked, and nodded, grin slipping away and replaced by a stony look. Honeydew glanced between Xephos and Kirin, and grabbed Xephos' arm. “Bed,” he said, and turned Xephos around, pushing him. “The chair is comfortable enough,” he added, throwing a look over his shoulder. Kirin didn't move to sit, only watched them from the circle as they left.

When Honeydew and Xephos rounded the doorway to go upstairs, they ran straight into Lalna.

“What the--” Xephos sputtered, and grabbed Lalna's shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“Uh.” Lalna swallowed, lips parted.

Honeydew rolled his eyes and slapped Lalna's side. “If you want to see the damn sidhe lord,” he said, “take a good look. He might bite if you see him outside that circle.”

Lalna blushed and nodded, shuffling to the side to let Xephos pass. Honeydew paused to narrow his eyes, before following. They were halfway up the stairs when Lalna's footsteps followed them, his curiosity satisfied, and they all climbed the steps, leaving Kirin downstairs.

 

* * *

 

In the morning, there was a knock on the door, and Xephos rushed to open it.

Lomadia stood with her arms crossed, head cocked, and an exhausted Will at her side. “He didn't sleep,” she said simply, and shoved Will forward.

Xephos shrieked and moved to catch him, holding Will's shoulders and pulling him inside the house. His blond hair was ruffled, dark circles under his eyes, and he wore the same clothes as he had the day before. There were cat hairs on his clothes and a new bandage on his finger. “What the _hell_ happened?” Xephos asked, rubbing down Will's arms. Will had a faraway look, blinking slowly.

“He panicked and broke a tea cup, and then tried to clean it up with his bare hands.” Lomadia shrugged. “He'll be all right if he naps a good while today.”

Xephos made a noise in his throat, reaching up to pet through Will's hair. Will threw him a weak smile, though it didn't reach his eyes. Xephos looked back at Lomadia. “Thank you.”

She shrugged again. “You owe me.”

With the door shut and the house sealed again, Xephos turned, and called toward the living room, “Honeydew!”

He popped his head in, eyes going wide at the sight of Will. “Christ, Will, are you--”

“Fine,” Will said, like he'd been asked more than once already. “I'm fine.”

Xephos bit his lip, and eyed the ring. It shone on Will's finger, the metal edges glinting, but the skin around it looked raw, like Will had tried to rip it off. “Okay,” he said, taking up Will's elbow. “Come here, come here.”

The moment they entered the living room, Will brightened, straightening up and looking around until his eyes landed on Kirin, who was still standing. He must have sat in the chair sometime during the night, must have _slept_ , though Xephos couldn't even tell if his feet had moved, planted just as firmly as they had been the night before.

“Will,” Kirin purred, and Will moved to go to him.

Xephos held him back with a tight grip. “Take the ring off. You promised.”

Kirin lifted his hands, surrendering. “I did, I did.” He smiled apologetically at Will, and Will's brow furrowed, glancing down and back, hand curling in a fist. Xephos ignored the way Will fingered the ring with his other hand, pulling him until Will stood in front of Kirin.

“Take it off _immediately_ ,” Xephos said, and held Will's right hand up, at the barrier of the circle. Kirin nodded, facing Will, both hands held up.

Will looked at Xephos, and at Honeydew, before staring at Kirin and letting his hand slip forward, through the barrier and into Kirin's grasp.

Xephos had specifically designed the circle to be open from the outside, should something happen and he or Honeydew need to get inside. When Will passed through the edge, the circle flickered, chalk smearing on the floor as it was penetrated after an entire day's existence, after holding the city's sidhe lord within its depths.

Kirin took Will's hand like he was grabbing a butterfly, tender and soft and slow. Will flinched at his touch, sucking in a breath, and his eyes were wide, reverent. Xephos knew the look all too well; Will was Kirin's. He'd been Kirin's for far too long, and Xephos hadn't even noticed.

But at least the damn ring would be off, now. The same trick wouldn't work twice.

The ring slipped off, dropping into Kirin's hand. He curled his fingers over it and tucked it in his pocket, and Will drew back, shivering as his hand passed back over the barrier.

Kirin looked meaningfully at Xephos, eyes narrowed. Xephos sighed and bent down, smudging the edge of the chalk that made up the circle and smearing one of the runes.

With the spell incomplete and the circle ruined, the barrier broke, dissipating in seconds. Kirin sighed as he stepped out, his tail vanishing, his face smoothing out, the frustration rolling off his shoulders as he relaxed and shook himself out.

Xephos shot up, standing and bracing himself in front of Will. “A deal's a deal,” he said.

Kirin turned toward Will, and Will flinched behind Xephos, a light sound coming out of his throat. Xephos tensed, raising an arm to block Will, if necessary.

“A deal,” Kirin said, glancing at all three of them, lingering especially long on Will, “is a deal.”

He gave them a short wave, barely a flick of the fingers, and turned, walking to the hall and out the front door without further conversation. Will jumped again as he passed, and watched him leave. Xephos grit his teeth, feeling the shift in power the moment Kirin stepped out, how the entire house seemed to lose its tension, boards creaking and sunlight shining through the windows a bit brighter than it had a moment ago.

Will slumped, and fell, collapsing belly first onto the couch. Xephos startled, eyes going wide, but Will had a peaceful look on his face, and he kicked off his shoes before curling up, tucking himself into the cushions.

Xephos shook his head, bending low to pet through Will's hair, before going to the front door. Kirin might have left the door unlocked like the sneak he was, but when Xephos got there, everything was latched and shut tight. Latched from the _inside_.

He shook his head, quickly returning to the living room.

Honeydew was bent over Will, tucking a blanket around him. Will snored softly, a pillow under his head and his hands folded underneath his face. The place where the ring had been was white, pale against his already light skin. Honeydew straightened, blowing out a long breath. “Well,” he said, and looked at Xephos.

Xephos blinked, staring at Will.

Honeydew shifted on his feet, running a hand through his hair. “He's in deep, Xeph.”

Swallowing, Xephos said, “I know, Dew. I know.” He nearly choked, saying it, thinking of the way Will had looked at Kirin, how Kirin had looked at him in return.

They stood for a moment, watching Will, until Honeydew spoke up again. “I'll make a pot of tea. Let's leave him be, huh?” Honeydew grabbed his wrist, tugging gently, and Xephos nodded, his breath short as he followed Honeydew to the kitchen. They shut the door behind them, leaving the living room for Will, so he could finally sleep.

 

* * *

 

Will slept all day long and didn't wake up until the evening, but when he did, he felt like he could carry the city on his shoulders.

The city was _normal_. The crying had stopped, no longer clawing at his mind and begging for release, for relief. It had wanted to be healed and Will couldn't heal it, but Kirin could. Kirin was back and the city was the way it should be, green roots and cables firmly attached at the edges and holding it in place. Will had slept like a baby, feeling the sawed off edges smoothing out, the rhythm of the city returning. It could breathe again without fire in its lungs, and Will could relax, the tight cage on his chest unlocking when the right key had slid into place.

He didn't sleep much that night, after waking up more rested than he had in what felt like months. Will stayed up and looked at the stars, until the early morning hours when he slept again, and got up as the sun was rising to make himself tea and enjoy a quiet house to himself.

Will didn't rush until it was past ten and he realized that the shop would be open, that it was after Christmas and he had no idea what had happened after he'd felt the breach in the shop's barrier. Will tossed his teacup in the sink and grabbed a coat, stalking past Xephos coming down the stairs as he slipped on his boots and went outside without a word of explanation.

Xephos didn't chase him, and that was as good as approval for Will.

He walked at a brisk pace, catching a bus and nearly running to Kirin's shop, weaving around the other bodies on the sidewalk. It was Friday and people were eager to get to work so they could eventually _leave_ work, and Will did his best not to knock anyone over in his rush.

The sight of broken windows made Will's heart stop for a second. He skirted to a halt just outside the shop, seeing the towels hung inside the windows to cover up the shattered glass around the edges and block out the harsh winter wind. Any glass that might have been on the ground was gone, but Will moved carefully as he went up to the door, stepping lightly and looking for a sign of the damage, any stray piece that could pierce through his shoes and his skin.

In the back of his mind, he made a note to get back at the garbage court.

The door opened easily and the bell hanging over it rang when Will opened it, breath held tight in his chest and fingers tense around the door's handle. The smell of fresh plants and rich soil washed over him, coating his throat and lungs when he finally inhaled, and there, in the middle of the shop, was Kirin.

He was bent over the central wooden table in the store, arranging the display of potted plants and lawn decorations. Kirin looked up when Will came in, lips pulling in a quiet smile.

Will couldn't help the relieved grin that broke over his face, and he shut the door, running forward.

Kirin opened his arms and purred, “Will!” as he guided Will into his arms, engulfing him in a tight hug as his thick arms swallowed Will, sheltering him. Will wrapped his own around Kirin's waist and buried his face in Kirin's chest.

“It's so good to see you,” Will said, and paused, before adding, “When you _aren't_ trapped inside my house.”

Kirin laughed, low and thrumming, and it sent shivers through Will to hear it, to see Kirin whole and just as he had been before. The city had screamed for Kirin when he'd been trapped and used Will as a conduit, scraping through his insides and digging its teeth in, pleading with him to fix it.

Now Kirin was back where he should be and the city had calmed. Will reveled in it, fingers wrapped tight in the fabric of Kirin's shirt.

When he lifted his head, his eyes fell on the windows, the towels that had been taped over them, and the glass still sitting beneath them. Kirin hadn't yet cleaned the glass that had fallen inside, and the shards made Will flinch as though they'd already scratched him.

He released Kirin to walk up to the windows, lifting a hand to trace the edges of the towels, the windowsill pressing against them, and look more closely at the glass. A large pile sat at his feet, the entire window broken down and pushed aside, and he could feel the wrongness of it, the magic that wasn't Kirin's lingering at the edges of the window, over the stray glass. “Who?” Will asked, turning to Kirin.

Kirin's eyes narrowed. “You already know the answer.”

Will swallowed, and nodded. He did.

Kirin came up behind him, an idle hand resting over Will's hip. “I'll have to fix it,” he said, breathing out a long sigh. “I'll call someone.”

“I can do it.” Will turned, wide eyed, Kirin's hand never falling from his hip even as he moved. He gestured behind him to the windows as he met Kirin's gaze. “Windows are part of the building, part of the city. I can try to fix them. You won't need to hire anyone.”

Kirin's eyes shone bright, and he smiled again, that easy smile that melted Will's heart. “Will,” he cooed. “You spoil me. If you'd like to try, you're more than welcome.”

Will's heart fluttered, and he nodded, enthusiastic. “Of course! You're the one always telling me to try new things, not to be afraid of my magic.”

Kirin lifted his other hand to squeeze Will's shoulder, his grip tight. “Indeed I did,” he said, leaning close to press their foreheads together. The skin was hot to the touch, like Kirin's greenhouses, and Will breathed in, smelling herbs and flowers, as Kirin's fingers curled tighter on his shoulder. The touch ran through him and constricted around his heart like a vine, embedding itself in Will and burying in his mind, Kirin's magic enveloping him as thickly as his affections.

Will was in very deep with Kirin’s magic, and he reached up to meet it, wrapping his mind around it as his hands came up to curl around Kirin's neck, standing on his toes as he brought them together. Kirin's hand slid down his shoulder to meet the other on Will's hip, covering the width of his waist and locking Will against him.

Will wouldn't let Kirin be taken from the city, ever again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by this chatfic: http://donotchoosesidesyet.tumblr.com/post/103931556665/long-umy-chatfic-xephos-vs-kirin
> 
> Thank you, friends, for hot potato-ing me.


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